Summer of Randomness – Mini Adventures in August 2015

In the spirit of making the most of our time on earth, Jade and I like to spend our weekends going on adventures together. Sometimes those adventures don’t warrant their own article, so we wait until the month is through and then bundle our mini adventures into a monthly highlights package.

Wimpole Estate

Wimpole Estate in Hertfordshire, England is home to Wimpole Hall and Wimpole Home Farm. Both are owned by the National Trust and make for a lovely day out for all the family. As we’d visited the farm previously we focused on the house, gardens and wider landscape this time around. We particularly liked that the management had laid out some large cushions on the floor of one room of the hall, so that visitors could lie down and admire the detail of the intricate ceiling. We took up this opportunity with relish, alongside an amble through the gardens, playing bowls on the lawn, and a wander across the fields to the gothic folly.

#WalkTheTalk2015

Jade decided to join her fellow psychologists on their last day of a 100 mile walk to highlight the impact of social inequalities and austerity on mental health. Jade is in the second pic below. You can find out more about the cause on the WalktheTalk2015 website or by reading some of the media coverage in these tweets.

Wells-Next-The-Sea

Wells-Next-The-Sea in Norfolk offers a typical dose of British seaside fun, with a few extra and unique additions. We really enjoyed sitting on the deck of The Albatros whilst enjoying freshly cooked Dutch pancakes (though the insistent wasps were a pain). We also enjoyed taking the narrow-gauge train from the town centre to the beautiful sandy beach, which was lined with well loved and individually designed beach huts. Our visit coincided with the town’s carnival which incorporated a parade of floats designed by local schools and organisations, lead by a motorcycle “gang”.

Low tide at WellsSitting on Wells BeachBikers parade through WellsThe Albatros at WellsPancakes aboard The Albatros

Music in the Meadows at Bedford

Bedford got into the swing of summer by holding a number of free concerts at the riverside bandstand. We went along with a picnic basket in hand to soak up the sunshine, music and wine and gleefully sung along to renditions of classic Beatles tunes and a medley from Disney’s Frozen! There was a bit of a breeze, so we were concerned about our wine glasses being blown over. But a shoe came to the rescue and thus, ‘shoe wine’ was born.

Music in the Meadows, BedfordShoe Wine!

Seven Dials Spotlight in London

London’s super-hip Seven Dials held a festival of it’s own in August. Musicians, comedians, dancers and other ‘artists’ graced the main stage, while the local businesses laid on street food and ran stalls. The cool-factor was palpable and the free Pimms was much appreciated, especially as we had the last two (free) servings of the day. Result!

Seven Dials SpotlightFree PimmsDelighted with our free Pimms

Chilli Festival

It seemed that chilli season was upon us and so we decided to embrace it with a visit to a free Chilli Festival in Bedfordshire one rainy Sunday in August. We arrived at the Chilli Festival to find a man in physical pain having rubbed chilli into his eyes. What a plonker! We avoided such agony, instead choosing to browse the stalls selling chilli-infused food and goods (and taking as many free samples as possible) whilst listening to a Mariachi band. We rounded it all off with some delicious food, fiery (alcoholic) ginger beer, a photo opportunity and cake at the garden centre!

Weekend in Manchester

We’ll be posting more about our weekend in Manchester and Salford soon. For now, here is a sneak peak of our time, thanks to some random snaps.

Enjoying a night out at Thaikhun, SpinningfieldsMarking Manchester Pride with cake!Fancy drinks and brunch at the popular Moose Coffee, ManchesterView of Media City from the top of the Imperial War Museum NorthManchester Cathedral

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na BAT WALK!

Finally, to round off a completely random month, we went on a bat walk in our local country park. We were loaned a bat detector that makes the bat’s calls audible to humans. We were extremely lucky to see and hear three different species of bats. It was great to be able to experience something that is normally out of sight and mind. To find out how you can experience this too head to the Bat Conservation Trust website.

A bat detector

And that was August

Stay tuned for September’s round-up where the highlights will include our visit to Salzburg, Munich and Bavaria. We’re particularly looking forward to experiencing the world renowned Oktoberfest!